In a major speech to the Council on Foreign Relations on Wednesday, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg will say the United States risks “national suicide” if it doesn’t adopt a more welcoming immigration policy.
“We will not remain a global superpower if we continue to close our doors to people who want to come here to work hard, start businesses, and pursue the American dream,” Bloomberg says in prepared remarks obtained by Playbook.
“The American dream cannot survive if we keep telling the dreamers to go elsewhere,” he says. “It’s what I call national suicide – and that’s not hyperbole.”
Bloomberg will deliver his speech on immigration reform ahead of the release of a report from the Partnership for a New American Economy, of which he is a co-chair, that looks at the role that immigrants play at Fortune 500 companies. A large percentage of Fortune 500 companies were founded by immigrants or the children of immigrants, the report notes.
“Every day that we fail to fix our broken immigration laws is a day that we inflict a wound on our economy,” Bloomberg will say.
The mayor, a political independent, will also argue that immigration reform is an issue where Washington can make bipartisan progress, although previous efforts at comprehensive immigration reform or piecemeal changes have stalled.
“Maybe more than any other major issue in Washington today, there is an opportunity for a bipartisan breakthrough on immigration,” Bloomberg will say.
